Album Review: Crown Magnetar – The Hollowing Of Godflesh
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
Some bands like to play the long game with their releases. Some like to have a more regular release cadence. Then there’s Crown Magnetar! The dust barely settling since their blistering EP “Punishment” dropped in early 2025, the Colorado deathcore bruisers are back with a full length effort “The Hollowing Of Godflesh”. All part of the band’s commitment to release new music every calendar year! In today’s age, that’s arguably how you stay relevant! They tour hard as well, and come to the UK and Europe this autumn alongside Archspire and The Zenith Passage. So, let’s have a sneak preview of what we can expect on this tour and on the 25th September release day.
Going under the deathcore banner, this is in many ways everything you’d expect from a band in this genre. Especially when they drop the hammer with the filthiest of slams during ‘Godkiller’ or the album’s title track. Yep, this is going to cause carnage when they come to Europe this autumn! The band draw influence from bands they consider to be the OGs; Suffocation and Dying Fetus, bands who ‘slam as hard as they shred’, whilst vocalist Dan Tucker cites brutal death metal acts like Putridity and Brodequin as inspiration. These influences are easy to see as “The Hollowing Of Godflesh” is as muscular as it is devastating! Examine ‘Dead Crown’ for a lesson in brutality with some disgusting guitar tones piercing through the mix!
The use of backing tracks adds extra dimension to the music, but merely as an enhancement and not being the melodic focal point, in the same way a band like Shadow Of Intent would do. Take ‘Desecration Infinite’ as an example of layering extra atmosphere but not taking the limelight through background synths.
Though in many ways, they hold an ace up their sleeve that separates them from their genre peers. See, many deathcore bands fall into the trap of dropping 10 ton slams every minute and lie to themselves by calling it ‘heavy’. You need something else. Crown Magnetar has that. They have a more technically refined edge, mostly due to the recruitment of Rob Maramonte. Having spent time in Fallujah and The Zenith Passage, you can see some passages being executed in odd time signatures whilst keeping crazy mechanical flow and tightness, whilst not sacrificing that sheer atomic heaviness. ‘Domination’ allows Crown Magnetar to flex their technical muscles, whilst ‘Torture Engine’ demonstrates some advanced shredding!
Look, there’s been some heavy releases this year, especially from the likes of Ov Sulfur, A Night In Texas, and Ingested. “The Hollowing Of Godflesh” ranks right up there with the most destructive releases for 2026! A band still young in the grand scheme of things but who are beginning to realise their terrifying potential!
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